What started with an argument between two brothers over a gerbil in Clearfield County erupted into a 48-hour killing spree.

Mark Spotz began by shooting and killing his own brother, Dustin Spotz, who police said stabbed Mark on Jan. 31, 1995.

While fleeing police over the next four days, Spotz shot and killed three women in three carjackings: June Rose Ohlinger, 52, of Schuylkill County; Penny L. Gunnet, 41, of New Salem; and Betty Amstutz, 71, a retired Lutheran deaconess whom he abducted near her Harrisburg home and killed in Cumberland County.

Spotz was convicted of voluntary manslaughter for killing his brother and received a sentence of 17-1/2 to 35 years in prison. He also was convicted of three separate counts of first-degree murder for the other killings in 1996, receiving the death penalty for all three murders.

His execution has been stayed several times, most recently in January 2013 to allow him time to complete his appeals process.

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